HELLMANS MAYONNAISE  MIXES WITH THE BUY LOCAL MOVEMENT

 TO MAKE A REAL CASE FOR ITS PRODUCTS

     Hellmans, the maker of "Real" mayonnaise, has taken its product story direct to the consumer through a new web based marketing campaign called The Real Food Movement.    What  does a food marketing campaign have to do with marketing for real manufacturers?  Lots, so please read on.  Go to their website, www.eatrealeatlocal.ca and browse around.  Watch their video, Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?  Take their Real Food Movement pledge to buy local and eat local.  You won't be alone.  Since it launched in June over 120,000 people have clicked on this pledge.  And this doesn't include the viral spread of their video to consumers around the world who are getting sick(literally in many cases) of buying their Honey from Argentina, their Garlic from China, and their fruits and vegetables from California and around the globe.  Go to their Twitter site at http://www.twitter.com/eatrealeatlocal/ for the latest comments on their campaign.  Email Hellmann's the location of your local grocery store and they'll even send an email to your store manager on your behalf asking them to stock more local products.  Hey, I'm even promoting their product by blogging about the campaign to you!

      Its brilliant marketing of a premium product that is building their Brand Awareness amongst consumers by tying into the fast growing local food movement, rapidly reaching a "tipping point" here in North America.  The book the 100 Mile Diet, Farmers Markets and Produce Stands popping up everywhere , sold out movies like Food Inc. about Factory Agriculture, The Slow Food Movement, Organic Gardening and Health Food Stores.  Mix these together with the many tainted food scares of the past few years and Presto! You have a perfect storm of  discontented consumers looking for alternatives.  Look at the results of the Harris/Decima survey that Hellmans commissioned earlier this year. 

                                6 of 10 consumers eat more local foods than 2 years ago

                                68% of consumers are checking the origin of food products

                                71% of consumers are reading labels on packaging

                                77% are willing to pay more for local products

 And when consumers were asked why they were doing these things:

                                 45% wanted to help the local economy

                                 43% wanted fresher food

                                 20% said the food was better for you

                                 19% wanted to help the Environment

Listen to Hellmans in their own words about why they started this campaign.

     "We believe in real food.  And when it comes to Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise, that means local food.  Canadian food. 

       Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise uses Canadian eggs and canola oil from the prairies.  And we're working on new ways to make the ingredients of many Hellmann's products as real and natural as possible.

       Can a big brand be a leader of the real food movement?  We think so.  We started with Urban Gardens two years ago, promoting the enjoyment of more real, fresh foods in Canada's cities.  Last year Hellmann's worked with Evergreen and local community groups to create a network of community food gardens across Canada.  We encouraged all Canadian to choose more real foods whether from the garden or the grocery shelf.

       Eating local is good for both the people who eat it and the people who produce it.  Our commitment to championing real food is only going to grow from here.  We have to lead by example, and hope you'll come on the journey with us.

It's Time to Eat Real.

It's Time to Eat Local."

     Great you say.  A nice story but what does this have to do with the struggling Canadian manufacturing sector.  Well, connect the dots with me.  Hellman's is a Canadian manufacturer just like you are.  The only difference is they make food products.  In fact, I bet that the Harris poll results above that showed consumers are willing to put their money where their mouth is to buy authentic, local food to help the economy, the environment, and themselves now applies to many other manufactured products as well.   Hellman's is probably getting hammered(just like you) by the global buying power of giant retailers who now dominate the industry and are constantly looking for Private Label opportunities or cheaper substitutes to improve their margins.  

    How do you compete against this kind of power. Well here's how. Tell your brand story direct to the consumer in a creative way and get consumers to force these Big Box food retailers to change their ways.  Create a lasting emotional connection with your customer(not the purchasing agent but the consumer) through a dialogue about issues like authenticity, community, local, and original that are now as important to the consumer as your actual product.  Skeptical? 

     Well from what I can see its working.  Why else would you see a T.V. ad showing Galen Weston loading a box of local cantaloupes onto a truck?  Why would you see local fruit stands outside a No Frills in Toronto?  and "locally grown" signs stuck all over supermarket produce sections.  The chains are reacting to pressure.  Why would you see some Sobey's stores leaving the chain  so they can have more control over where and what foods they buy?  Why are independents like Foodland using the buy local card to compete with the big chains?  Why has the price of Ontario grown apples more than doubled over the past 2 years?

       Hellmans is a perfect, "real", example of what all manufacturers should be doing to circumvent the gatekeepers(i.e. purchasing  agents) at the Big Box stores who now control not only the product flow but the information flow to the end buyer of your products.  Instead of a marketing strategy centered around the old fashioned 3 yards and a cloud of dust, maybe its time to consider an end run around those tacklers that are trying to grind you into that dust.

       I invite you to read my previous blogs entitled "Still Made Here" and "Convincing Big Box Retailers to Buy Canadian" which ties in nicely to the Hellman's story. Happy Story Telling!  And if you need help with the creative marketing side read my next blog about where to find it.